I am wanting a two piece Picatinney scope base for my Remington 40-X.  

What is proving very difficult is this - I want an integral base for my rear iron sight.  

The iron sight is a Warner that uses the Redfield style mount.  

Previously, I was using a Warner Tool iron sight base that attaches to the side of the receiver.  That worked just fine with my Kelbly scope rings and bases.  The thing is, I have only one low power scope mounted in Kelbly rings.  I'd like the option of using any of my scopes on the rifle.  All the other scopes require a Picatinney-style scope base.  



There is inadequate room to mount Picatinney rear base and my iron sight base.  

It seems a natural thing to build the Redfield-style base right into the Picatinney base but I have not been able to find this.

I bought a Warner adapter that allows the iron sight to mount to a Picatinney rail but it places the sight too high above the bore, too high above the front sight; a full INCH too high.



This shows where the rear sight base used to be (just propped up in place).





P.S. - I started this thread in the wrong Forum.  So, as the topic isn't yet finished, I thought I'd move it over here instead of continuing on over on the AR-15 Forum.

I could just go with it, as-is, but it is very high over the cheek piece AND I would need a new front sight.  

That's a few hundred dollars more,... if you can find one.

Adding it all up -

Picatinney scope bases - $100

Sight Adapter - $150

New front sight - $300

Add some tax and shipping and we are talking $600.

Something is wrong with this approach.  It's expensive and it looks very kludgey with all those bits bolted together.

Anyone have any advice on how to proceed?

I want a two piece base so I can still use the stripper clip slot when using iron sights (it's a match rifle).

The cost of all this has risen so high ($600), I could just buy a second scope for use with this rifle, mount it in Kelbly rings and be ahead of the game.

I still want to try but am no longer confident in the outcome.

I have seen what you are looking for on a model 70, and have looked for over two years for one for mine. They exist, but are very hard to find. Worse case one can be made. Wouldn’t be cheap but wouldn’t be $600 either

Sometimes you have to go to the source.  

Look at what I found.  It's only $65.  Link to Kelbly.com web site

It looks like it may be tall enough to clear the existing base, too... maybe.

Anyone know a gunsmith I could contact to make a rear base with integral iron sight base?

I wonder if LRI would do something like that.

I have been doing a lot of "homework" on this.  

I've been comparing different off-the-shelf hardware options and did the layout of a custom, one piece rear base that would do exactly what I want.  All of that is compared to what I already have.

As it turns out, the base and rings I already have is really quite a slick little set up, allowing a scope and iron sights that do not interfere with each other.  

A custom-designed rear base does not significantly improve on what I have.  

If I use off-the shelf parts to put a Picatinney base on this rifle, the scope is going to end up a lot higher up above the bore than what I have (typically 0.3 - 0.5" higher, at least).  It also gets a bit "kludgey" because of so many parts and their interfaces.

If I want a one piece rear base, I am going to have to design and build one.  Even custom, almost every option I explored resulted in the scope moving higher up due to the width at the bottom of the Picatinney rings.  A custom-built rear base may minimize the elevation increase but there is still an increase (typically 0 - 0.3" higher).

For this rifle, it would be WAY easier and just as effective to simply buy a new scope, mount it in Kelbly dovetail rings and use the existing base.  That option isn't much more expensive than a custom base, either.  I just didn't understand all that.  Now, I know.

So, like I said, I have a renewed appreciation for the slick little set up I put together way back when I bought this rifle (30 years ago).  I also have a new, renewed appreciation for the Kelbly dovetail rings and bases that allowed me to do this.

Why a two-piece base?

The M24 sniper rifle used both a Picatinny rail and Redfield and RPA iron sight bases.  My .22LR 40X is set up the same way.

As I posted above, I want to leave the scope base and iron sight base permanently installed yet retain access to the stripper clip slot.  A one piece base does not allow for that.

Where did you get the iron sight base and the scope base?  Are they commercially available?  I am not against buying one and cutting the Picatinney rail into two pieces.  My iron sight base is taller than yours but that does not seem to be a show stopper.

My 40X was an army surplus rifle through the CMP and the Redfield Olympic base came on the rifle.  The Pic rail is a 20 MOA from Murphy Precision.

Mo Defina from Connecticut used to make something like you want, with the Warner or Redfield base machined into or tapped for attaching the irons base.  Sadly, he's been gone many years.

You can probably cut the first groove off a Leupold base to clear your clip-slot.  Maybe Weaver or Warne make a single slot mount?

Attached File


The Warner and Lipski adaptors do the same thing, so your Warner would still be high.

Besides the superior Warner there are Weaver rail RPAs and Centras that will clamp on to your two-piece rear base at the proper height.



Failing finding what you want in current production (or a gunsmith who can fabricate one) -- how set are you on keeping strippers?  You could change bottom metal to use AI magazines.

My Warner sight base is much taller than yours, maybe 1/4" taller.  Clearance for that is one thing forcing everything higher over the bore.

I am going to keep looking.  There is a lot of stuff out there but I haven't yet found what I need to make this work.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  Getting a new iron sight did not come to mind, at all.  Thanks, also for that picture.  It gave me hope.

I went looking for a new iron sight.  

Warner no longer offers them, at all.

The Centra you showed costs ~$500, just as much as a new scope.

I've got some parts here and a few more on the way.  I'm going to cobble something together and test it out, just as a test.  Maybe raising the cheekpiece 1/2" won't be a problem.

Oh darn, I'll have to go shooting to find out, just HAVE to.  :-)

This picture solved all my problems.  Thank you very much for that.

If I get a lower rear sight base, then the somewhat taller Nightforce Picatinney base provides adequate clearance to get the rings on and off.

Sometimes, I just cannot see what is right in front of me.  This one of those times.

The new scope bases worked out just fine.  All scopes fit on them and so all my scopes are now interchangeable between rifles.  

I don't yet have the new iron sight base but that will be here soon.  Once installed, I will need to get a proper zero for it.

Oh darn!, I'll just have to go shooting again.  ;-)




On another matter, those of you who haven't yet used the ShotMarker electronic target and scoring are in for a real treat.  

You put the target up and can shoot all day long without needing to go to the pits.  It gives shot location, shot value (score), and even gives bullet velocity at the target.  I'm sure it does more but that's all I use it for.  It has proven to be quite reliable and accurate, too.

Imagine shooting at 600 or 1,000 yards during a solo practice session (it is supposed to be usable at up to 2 miles but my Range only goes to 1,000 yards).

How about shooting a full course match with no pit duty for anyone.  It halves the time needed to run a match.

How about a load development session where your chronograph gives you muzzle velocity and ShotMarker gives you velocity at the target for every shot fired.

This is an unpaid, unsolicited endorsement of a product because it is so damned good.  Consider it a user review.

It works!



To my eyes, the scope looks tilted downwards.  It is not, it is just perspective issues with the camera shot.

I thought it was tilted too.

The new iron sight base is lower than the old one - 0.650" versus 0.800".  

Guess how much I had to raise the rear sight to get back to zero?

Damn!, I love the Warner Tool products.